1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improvement of an apparatus for forming soft food material into globular shape, and more particularly to a simplified apparatus for forming successively food material, extruded in columnar form, such as dough, soft rice cake, soft candy, ground meat, minced meat and mashed potato, into globular shape wherein some second food material is available to be put into the extruded column as a core. This invention benefits the confectionery industry or large scale food processing industry.
2. Description of the Related Art
The inventor pioneered a new mass production apparatus for such food, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,398,881, wherein a pair of crawler belt means (cut and roll up system by crawler belt) is used to complete a globularly shaped and wrapped food product. This apparatus has enjoyed a good reputation for its mass production capability throughout the confectionery and process food industry world.
The above mentioned apparatus, however, has such a high production rate that it has invited some inconvenience of overproduction for a small enterprise which cannot secure some big orders. As a result, it may become idle.
In order to overcome such a case, Japanese Publication No. 40-27293 disclosed an apparatus forming food material into the form of a column by movement of two piece cutters having cam shaped circumferential areas.
The invention disclosed by Japanese Publication No. 40-27293, however, adopted the simple and automatic cutting method by two cutters in the rotation movement of those relative cams, and thereby some inconvenient matters are unavoidable such as the scattering of the food material because of impact load and frictional force imposed on this cutting procedure and the clogging of the said material to the cutter itself and also the scratching of the completed food product during the cutting work.
In order to make a counter measure for the said inconveniences, the rotating speed of the food material supply should be equal to that of the said cam cutter relatively when the food material is extruded in the form of a column, whereby the satisfactory shape is obtainable. This method, however, damages greatly the nature of the food material because of forcible fluidic friction, wherefore it caused the deterioration of food taste and food quality.